Blog - Goodnotes | Best Note-Taking App for iPad

New in Goodnotes Classroom: Give your students personalized support with Goodnotes AI

You can now use Goodnotes AI to provide personalized support to your students, encouraging independent learning in a safe environment.

April 17, 2025

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Best Digital Stickers for Goodnotes in 2025

Looking for digital stickers to use in GoodNotes? Here are some of our favorite sticker sets.

April 7, 2025

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New Features, Fixes, and Improvements in Goodnotes - January to March 2025

At Goodnotes, we’re committed to building a seamless and intuitive note-taking experience. Here’s a deep dive into what’s new so far this year!

April 1, 2025

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Goodnotes Creator Spolight: Templatables

The creator of Templatables shares how she balances the demands of motherhood and business.

March 25, 2025

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Goodnotes Creator Spotlight: Butter & Scotch

The creator of Butter & Scotch offers a look into her creative journey and how digital planning has become an essential tool in her life.

March 25, 2025

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New! Sanrio Characters Planners and Stickers Now Available in the Goodnotes Marketplace

Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, and My Melody stationery now available on Goodnotes.

February 18, 2025

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Goodnotes Tape Tool: Tips, Tricks, and Creative uses

Discover Tape in Goodnotes. Learn how to cover and reveal text, customize patterns, and enhance your study sessions, note-taking, and note decoration.

February 4, 2025

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The 11 Best Digital Planners for 2025

Looking for the best digital planner to replace your paper notebook?

December 17, 2024

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Deploy Goodnotes for Business with Ease: A Guided Setup

Watch our step-by-step walkthrough of installing and deploying Goodnotes for Business on iPad.

November 12, 2024

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A Message to Our Community: Regarding Our Recent Service Disruption

A message from founder and CEO Steven Chan about the service disruption on October 23 that may have affected you.

October 28, 2024

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Special Livestream Event: Major new features for Goodnotes 6

Join us October 3 for a livestream event all about the latest Goodnotes 6 features!

September 23, 2024

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Ask Goodnotes, an AI-powered question and answer tool right in your notebook

Here’s a sneak peek of a new feature in the works: Introducing Ask Goodnotes.

September 23, 2024

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All About the Goodnotes USA Tour 2024: Life’s Lighter with Goodnotes

If you spot our Goodnotes pop-up and friendly faces at your campus, you’ll definitely want to come say hi! Here’s what you can expect.

September 16, 2024

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Benefits of Digital Note-Taking: Why you need a note-taking app in 2024

Yes, that’s right. Goodnotes can search the notes you take on your iPad, whether you’re writing, typing, or marking up a PDF.

September 6, 2024

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Life’s Lighter with Goodnotes: 5 Reasons Every Student Needs Goodnotes

Curious about what you can achieve with Goodnotes? Read to find out why millions of students depend on Goodnotes.

August 30, 2024

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How We Work: Our Seven Company Values

Partly aspirational and partly grounded in our existing identity — read up on the Goodnotes company values.

August 16, 2024

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Introducing Goodnotes Classroom

The new way for teachers to connect with each student, grade papers faster, and make lessons even more collaborative and engaging.

August 12, 2024

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10 Essential Digital Stationery Items for Students

For Goodnotes users, this collection of 10 items offers all the essential digital stationery you need for the new school year.

August 8, 2024

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Goodnotes’ Back to School Survival Guide

As university gates reopen and classes begin, here are five things every returning student needs to consider.

August 7, 2024

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How to Become an Academic Weapon This School Year

Academic weapons — what are they? And how do they differ from their less locked in counterpart, the academic victim?

August 6, 2024

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How Goodnotes Ambassadors Stay ‘Locked In’

We asked our Goodnotes Ambassadors to give us a peek into their lives around study — what does “locking in” mean to them?

August 5, 2024

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How to Use Editable Stickers on Goodnotes

Editable stickers (stickers you can edit!) are now available on the Goodnotes Marketplaces. Here's how to use them.

August 2, 2024

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With Digital Planners, Janice Wong is Making Everyone Love Mondays Again

Janice Wong, or better known on Instagram as Good Mondays Paper, is building a career out of customizing — out of creating and making things into her own. How did she get there?

August 2, 2024

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The Perks of Working at Goodnotes: How GoodPeople Work, Live, and Grow

At Goodnotes, we believe in investing in our people.

July 29, 2024

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How to be Productive: 11 Ways to Manage Tasks, Time, and Workflow

Whether you’re a working professional or a high school student, here’s 11 tips and strategies on how to be more productive.

July 24, 2024

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For Samuel Suresh, Digital Note-taking is About “Owning Your Learning”

Read our first exclusive user story on Samuel Suresh, one of the first YouTubers to kickstart a career from taking digital notes.

July 23, 2024

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How to Study More Effectively with Digital Flashcards

Are you making the most of your flashcard study sessions?

July 11, 2024

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What is a Zine? Goodnotes’ Guide to DIY Publishing

A zine is a small, self-published booklet or magazine. But to understand them better, we need to understand zine history, look at zine examples, and how zines can be made using Goodnotes.

July 9, 2024

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Why Goodnotes Is The Best Digital Bullet Journal App

Thinking of starting a digital bullet journal?

July 5, 2024

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7 Practical Ways to Apply Active Recall When Studying

Active recall — if you’re a student, you’ve probably heard the term floating around.

June 30, 2024

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Study Lessons On-Screen: 11 Study Motivation Quotes From Pop Culture

Looking for motivation to study? Here are 11 study lessons from pop culture to power you through finals season.

June 28, 2024

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Why Humanities Students Need Goodnotes

In the humanities — disciplines which emphasize close reading and imaginative thinking first — Goodnotes is more than just a nice-to-have. We think it’s a necessity.

June 24, 2024

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The best styluses for note-taking on the iPad

Which iPad stylus is the best for note-taking?

June 21, 2024

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How to Learn Anything: the Feynman Technique, Explained

Richard Feynman was once declared ‘The Smartest Man in the World’ by Omni Magazine in 1979. But how did The Smartest Man In The World learn or study? The answer: the Feynman Technique.

June 19, 2024

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How to Study like a Harvard Student: 14 Study Tips from Top Students

Want to know how to study effectively? Here are some study tips from top university students!

June 19, 2024

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Which is the Best iPad for College Students?

A comparison of iPad models for college and university students

June 18, 2024

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Cornell Note Taking — The Best Way To Take Notes, Explained

Cornell notes are one of the best note-taking methods, and for good reason. Here's why and how you can take Cornell notes.

June 3, 2024

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15 AI Note-Taking Apps Guaranteed to Change Your Life

Whether you're a student, a professional, or someone who loves taking notes, read on to discover the best AI-powered note-taking apps on the market.

May 28, 2024

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Behind the Scenes: Life as an iOS Engineer at Goodnotes

5 of our talented engineers, Bret, Calvin, Pablo C, Ted, and Tomás, will give you a glimpse into the inner workings of Goodnotes.

May 16, 2024

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New! Everything you can do with the Apple Pencil Pro in Goodnotes

Yes, you can use the Apple Pencil Pro with Goodnotes!

May 15, 2024

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The Best Note-Taking Methods for College Students & Serious Note-takers

Which is the best note-taking method for you?

May 13, 2024

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Celebrating Women in Tech: Meet Chelsea, Senior Product Designer at Goodnotes

Chelsea is a senior product designer on our education team, where she has worked on a number of exciting features, like AI Math Assistance, Exam Prep and Study Sets.

March 27, 2024

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Celebrating Women in Tech: Meet Sisca, Backend Developer at Goodnotes

Learn more about Sisca’s experience working at Goodnotes, being a female developer in a male-dominated industry.

March 20, 2024

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Celebrating Women in Tech: Meet Nebahat (Nebs), Group General Counsel & Compliance Officer at Goodnotes

Curious to know what it’s like being a Group General Counsel at Goodnotes? Meet Nebs, our Group General Counsel and Compliance Officer.

March 13, 2024

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User Spotlight: A Double Play in Baseball and Ivy League Studies

Meet Olivia, professional baseball player, Brown University student, and avid Goodnotes user.

March 7, 2024

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Celebrating Women in Tech: Meet Akmaral, Global Community Manager at Goodnotes

After joining as a social media intern 3 years ago, Akmaral became a full-timer, and then transitioned into our first Global Community Manager. Read on to see how.

March 6, 2024

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Goodnotes’ 2023 Year in Review

December 14, 2023

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Design

Design at Goodnotes: A Diary Study on How Students Prepare for Exams

Here's a look behind the curtain about how we research user needs and wants to build our features!

November 24, 2023

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Behind the Scenes: Shipping the Ruler Feature in Goodnotes 6

We chatted with Carles, one of our Senior iOS Engineers, about his journey into iOS, the behind-the-scenes process of shipping this feature, and what life is like for an engineer at Goodnotes.

November 22, 2023

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Design

Design at Goodnotes: AI Math Assistance

Chelsea Mangold-Takao walks us through how AI Math Assistance in Goodnotes 6 was conceptualized & designed.

November 17, 2023

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11 Cute Sticker Packs You Won't Be Able to Resist

Our top picks for the cutest digital stickers to use to decorate your notes!

November 8, 2023

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8 Creative Habit Tracker Templates to Help You Hit Your Goals

Got some habits you're trying to build? These inspirational habit tracker templates will get you inspired.

October 18, 2023

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Top 4 Mind Mapping Methods for Note-Taking (with Examples)

Interested in mind maps? Here are 4 great examples to get started with.

October 5, 2023

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Behind The Scenes: From a Goodnotes User to a Developer Intern

Interested in a software internship at Goodnotes looks like?

October 3, 2023

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The Zettelkasten Method: A Beginner's Guide

A Zettelkasten helps you organize all your knowledge on a certain topic, in a way that's easy to reference and build upon. Here's how to create one!

September 27, 2023

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Behind the Scenes: Bringing Goodnotes Cross-Platform

A few weeks ago, we finally launched Goodnotes cross-platform. Here's how we made it happen!

September 20, 2023

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Design

Design at Goodnotes: The Story Behind Goodnotes’ New Look

Irene Falgueras and Joosep Laht, two product designers at Goodnotes, take us through a behind-the-scenes of how Goodnotes’ new UI came to be.

August 25, 2023

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Behind the Scenes: Being a Software Engineer Intern

See what it's like to be a software engineer intern at Goodnotes!

August 23, 2023

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Introducing Goodnotes 6: AI Note-Taking, AI Math Assistance, Dynamic Templates & more

Notes reimagined: Everything you need to know about Goodnotes 6.

August 9, 2023

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Goodnotes goes cross-platform! Now available on Android, Windows, and Web

Goodnotes is available on Android, Windows and, Web!

August 9, 2023

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Introducing the Goodnotes Ambassador Program

Start a local community and become a brand ambassador in your region!

July 31, 2023

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Behind the Scenes: Shipping Handwriting Recognition

We sat down for a chat with Angus, one of the machine learning engineers that worked on handwriting recognition, to learn more about the work that went into shipping this technology.

June 1, 2023

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Behind the Scenes: Creating the Audio Recording Feature in GoodNotes

Get a behind the scenes look at what it's like to develop a feature at GoodNotes.

May 17, 2023

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Brief Story of Steven, Our Founder & CEO

When the iPad was released in April of 2010, I was a second-year Maths student in Australia. I received the iPad on the first day it was released, and I was immediately impressed by the possibilities of a large touchscreen.

April 13, 2023

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Taking Note: Meet Rowena, Product Director of Education at Goodnotes

Rowena brings a strong track record in the EdTech space, as a the lead of our Classroom team. We spoke to Rowena about her onboarding experience onboarding with us and her insights on diversity & inclusion in tech.

March 29, 2023

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Taking Note: Meet Natalia, Senior QA Engineer at GoodNotes

Meet Natalia, one of our Senior QA Engineers. Continue reading to find out what Natalia does at GoodNotes and her experience as a female engineer in the tech world!

March 22, 2023

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The Outline Note-Taking Method: Steps, Benefits, and When To Use

Want to create super organized notes without the hassle? Here's a quick guide to the outline note-taking method.

March 20, 2023

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Taking note: Meet Irene, Senior Product Designer at GoodNotes

Learn more about what it’s like to be a product designer at GoodNotes, and Irene’s advice for women who want to make it in the tech industry!

March 15, 2023

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How to Take Notes on the iPad

Interested in taking notes on the iPad? Here's everything you need to know, from how to write neatly, to which iPad to choose.

March 15, 2023

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Taking Note: Meet Monica, Data Analyst at GoodNotes

Monica transitioned from a career in banking to analytics in tech. Read on to learn more about her work, and how she finds being a woman in the tech industry!

March 8, 2023

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How to Take Notes on the Microsoft Surface Pro

Here's everything you need to know about taking handwritten notes on the Surface Pro – from how to make it feel more natural to free templates you can download.

March 1, 2023

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Taking Note: Meet Bella, Software Engineer at GoodNotes

We chatted with Bella, a software engineer, about looking for a job as a fresh grad, soft skills in technical roles, and diversity & inclusion.

March 1, 2023

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9 Best iPad Apps for Students

Looking for the best iPad apps for students? Here are the top-rated apps that'll help you excel at school (and won't break the bank).

February 22, 2023

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What's the Best Surface Pro Stylus for Note-Taking?

Looking for a stylus for your Surface Pro? Here are 5 popular Surface Pro styluses we'd recommend.

February 8, 2023

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New! Add Audio Recordings to Your Notes

Can’t write or type fast enough to catch everything being said?

January 19, 2023

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GoodNotes is Apple’s 2022 iPad App of the Year!

A letter to our users, from the Founder and CEO of GoodNotes, Steven Chan.

November 29, 2022

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11 Best Study with Me YouTube Channels and Livestreams

It’s time to study — what are you playing in the background?

September 5, 2022

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A Short & Sweet Guide to the Leitner System

The Leitner System — aka, the most efficient way to use flashcards.

August 15, 2022

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How to Get Good Grades: 7 Scientific Study Tips & Techniques

So, you want good grades?

July 25, 2022

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New! Comments: Start Distraction-Free Conversations on Shared Documents

GoodNotes now supports Comments in your digital notes!

February 10, 2022

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Introducing the GoodNotes Community: A Notes-Sharing Platform to Get Inspired and Study Better

Just because you’re studying remotely doesn’t mean you have to study alone.

September 16, 2021

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Day in the Life of a Hybrid Data & Backend Engineer at GoodNotes

Nathan joined GoodNotes 8 months ago as one of our software engineers, after being referred by a friend.

June 3, 2021

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Introducing the Elements Tool: Save and Reuse Stickers, Diagrams, and Text Across all Your Notes

Say goodbye to copying and pasting from notebook to notebook, or redrawing the same diagrams each time, and say hello to the new Elements Tool.

May 3, 2021

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How Goodnotes Keeps Your Digital Notes Safe

If you rely on a notebook or on loose leaf paper, misplacing your notes or spilling your coffee on them could mean losing them forever.

January 13, 2021

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How to Mark Up a PDF on the iPad

If you’ve ever Googled “pdf annotation software” or “pdf editor” you know the pain of trying to mark up a PDF on the computer.

November 20, 2020

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5 Ways to Study Together with GoodNotes (No Matter the Timezone)

Another added benefit of using a digital note-taking app to study?

October 29, 2020

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Draw and Hold to Create Perfect Shapes & More: What’s New with GoodNotes’ Shape Recognition

We’ve made some significant upgrades to GoodNotes’ shape recognition technology that we’re excited to share with you today.

September 25, 2020

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Introducing Shared Documents — Enable shared links & collaborate with other users

Today, we’re excited to announce the release of our latest GoodNotes update version 5.5. It adds the ability to share documents with other users and work together on the same version.

August 26, 2020

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Being a Female Engineer

Rammy has paved the way in her career by being the first QA engineer at multiple companies. She’s also frequently been the first female engineer.

August 7, 2020

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How GoodNotes Uses GoodNotes

One of the best parts of building an app like GoodNotes is seeing all the different ways people use it.

August 6, 2020

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Learning by Doing and Becoming a Developer at GoodNotes: Bret’s Story

Bret is a self-taught developer, who doesn’t have the typical computer science background. Here’s how he paved his career.

June 8, 2020

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GoodNotes 5 for Mac is now available on the Mac App Store

Important update: This article has been updated in April 2020 to reflect that GoodNotes is now a universal purchase for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

October 8, 2019

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How to Take Aesthetic Notes on the iPad

Here’s a secret: taking aesthetic notes on the iPad is so much easier than on paper.

May 16, 2019

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How to Write on PowerPoint Slides on an iPad

In this blog article, we‘ll explain how you can write on PowerPoint slides on your iPad instead of having to print them out.

September 19, 2018

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New! Your first 3 notebooks in GoodNotes are now free

You heard right — we’re thrilled to put GoodNotes in the hands of even more people.

April 5, 2018

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Alternative Note-Taking Methods Explained — “The Boxing Method”

You might have heard about the outline method or the Cornell note-taking technique but most likely you have never heard about the “Boxing Method“.

October 4, 2017

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